1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing apparatus, and more particularly, to a hook-setting device that may also function as a strike indicator.
2. Related Art
Most recreational fishing apparatus and techniques currently being used may be classified into two general categories: 1) bait or lure fishing, using a rod and “spin” or “cast” reel, fishing line, and bait on a hook or a lure with a hook; and 2) fly fishing, using a fly rod and reel, line, leader, and a fly having a hook. Bait or lure fishing is done by the vast majority of anglers, and is the traditional way for young people to learn how to fish. Fly fishing, which has a reputation for being difficult but rewarding, is done by a smaller segment of anglers, but is growing in popularity.
Fly-fishing techniques require apparatus and methods that are very different from those of conventional bait/lure fishing, especially in view of the significant differences between fly-casting                (FIGS. 1-3) and spin-casting with the spin/cast rod and reel (FIG. 4). The physics of these two methods of casting are different:        1) In fly-casting, the casting weight is the relatively heavy fly line 2, which therefore leads in travel through the air and pulls the relatively light fly leader 3 and fly 4 behind it during the rearward and forward steps of the cast (FIGS. 1 and 2). In other words, the relatively heavy line 2, which extends between the fly rod 5 and the leader 3, travels in front of the leader 3 and the fly 4. As the line 2 approaches the surface of the water W, it flips out in front (upstream) of the angler, and lays out the leader 3 and fly 4 upstream, so that the fly is preferably the most upstream portion of the fishing apparatus (FIG. 3). Typically, the layout occurs at the end of the cast, but when the line is still a few feet above the water; thus, in a “whip-like” manner, the end of the apparatus, which is the distal end of the leader and the fly, is flipped upstream to lie on the water and then starts floating downstream toward the angler. 2) In spin-casting, the lure or other bait 6 is the casting weight, so that the lure or bait 6 leads, rather than follows, in travel through the air (FIG. 4) In other words, in spin-casting, the lure or bait travels in front of the line 7.        
Therefore, the aerodynamics for the equipment used in the two types of fishing are different. In a fly cast, the side facing away from the fly is the side of an object attached to the fly leader that leads during the cast (FIGS. 1 and 2). In a spin cast, the side facing toward the bait or lure is the side of an object attached to the line that leads during the cast (FIG. 4).
Halterman, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,831) discloses a strike indicator which is reported to be “useful in fly fishing, ice fishing and light bait fishing, which provides slippage resistant attachment along a static fishing line.” The Halterman, Jr. strike indicator comprises a bifurcated strike indicator body with a stretchable tab slightly shorter than the strike indicator. The fishing line passes through a longitudinal slit and is held therein by the stretchable tab.
Calvin (U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,190) discloses a fly-fishing strike indicator that is moveable on a fishing leader but at the same time can maintain its position on the leader when a fly is cast. A knot of surgical tubing is made on the leader and a cover of thermoplastic, heat shrinkable tubing is slid over the knot to surround the leader and knot. The ends of the cover are then heated to constrict the ends loosely about the leader to form an air pocket between the leader and cover.
Constantin (U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,950) discloses a strike-indicating fly line with a plurality of spaced apart bands along a section of the line visible to an angler. The bands and the spacing between the bands is such that they can be discerned in use by the angler, so that the angler can “see when the line stops drifting or changes direction, indicating a fish strike.”
Wolfe (U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,451) discloses a two-floatation-unit bobber system for bait/lure fishing, wherein an inner bobber is pulled by the fish strike out from the larger bobber. In order for the Wolfe bobber system to work, the inner bobber must distance itself from the outer bobber, and this is done by the inner bobber pulling the line through the outer bobber, with the outer bobber sliding along the line, as the inner bobber is pulled deeper into the water. The two bobbers becoming separated is a visual signal to the angler that a strike has occurred. The Wolfe bobber system floats “face-down” in the water, as is typical of bait/lure bobbers and floats.
Kramer (U.S. Pat. No. 2,591,558) discloses a bait/lure fishing float that aims at limiting the drifting action of the float by providing a chambered body with fins and a closure member for the chamber. Kramer discloses a finned, substantially closed bell-shaped float, which “faces down” in the water and partially fills with water via a tubular member that opens only a small portion of the flat face of the float.
Teegarden (U.S. Publication US2002/0095853) discloses a wobble device that slides freely along a fishing line and provides a cup-shape facing away from the hook. The cup-shape is reported to “impart a life-like wiggling motion to the natural and artificial fishing baits and lures, including flies, real and plastic worms, rubber baits, and other lures.”
There is still a need for an improved apparatus for setting a hook and indicating a strike in fishing. There is especially a need for such a device that is effective in fly fishing.